Nail-holding attachment for hammers



Dec. 18, 1928. 1,695,339

A. LOCHHEAD NAIL HOLDING ATTACHMENT FOR HAMMERS Filed March '7, 1927j/vomrw Lock/HEAD INVE/VMR,

Patented Dec. 18, 1928.

UNITED STATES 1,695,339 PATENT OFFICE.

ANDREW LOCHHEAD, F OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA. j

NAIL-HOLDING ATTACHMENT non HAMMERS.

Application filed March 7, 1927. Serial. No. 173,389.

My invention relates to improvements in nail holding attachments ttorhammers, adapted to be secured to the conventional. clawhamnjiers, roughalso attachable to hatchets or like hand tools; and he primary object otthe invention is the provision of a plate pivotally secured to thehandle of the hamhaving nail engagil'i-gjaws adapted to bear against oneside of the head of the hammer and cooper "ing therewith for temporarilyholding a nail therebetween for itacilitating in projecting the nail ina support, particularly in a support ordinarily out of the reach of thehand oi the workman.

With the foregoing and further objects in view which. will appear as thel proceeds, my invention resides ition and arr. 1

"Jed a d claimed, it beingun'derstood ianges in the precise embodimentof the rom the spirit of the invention. accompanying drawings- 1 is aside elevation of a. hammer so of my inpr vod nail holding atimentssecured thereto, and a nail dis 1 between the jaws of the attachment, hehead oi? tl e nail b n against one iew ot the attachment up l ne i-.- l,Fig. 1, and a nail lime-ntand projected a dis )ort a side view of ahammer with -:tion of the handle broken away, and one o the presentattachments secured thereposed in rela .ve reverse order;

. gure 6 is a side or face view of the atlaehment plate removed from thehammer;

The numeral 1 designates the handle, and

2 the head, of a hammer, which has the usual driving 3 and nail-pullingclaws 1.

To one side of the handle 1, adjacent the head 2, is secured a screw 5,which pivotally ements of parts. details of construction hereinattersupports the plate 6 by passing through an opening 7 formed inthe bottomof a concave-convex indentation 8 intermediate the outer end 9 and innerend 10 of the plate.

The outer endl). oi the plate 6 is formed with a V-shaped slot 11, theedges of which are struck outwardly, thereby forming a pair of opposednail-engaging jaws 12, 13, having outwardly projecting flanges 14:,15,-extending substantially the length of said jaws.

The inner end 10 of the plate 6 is provided with an outwardly strucklocking indentation 16 adapted to engageand cooperate withthe oval headlZ'ot a pin 18 driven in the handle 1 at a distance from the screw 5,for normally il'rictiona'lly holding the plate 6 infixed relation tothehammer.

The plate .6 is preferably stamped from sheet metal suthcientlyresilient so that when the screw 5, extending through the opening isdriven a proper distance in 'the handle- 1,

In this position the indentation 16 engages I l the head 17 andcooperates therewith to normally prevent rotation of the plate on thescrew 5, but rotatable about the axis of said screw, in a planesubstantially parallel with the handle 1, when the inner end 10isoperatively forcibly disengaged from-the head 17 by the workman.

In Fig. 5 the plate 6 is shown disposedin lon 'itudinall reversedaosition relative to b .V l

the hammer, in which position the jaws 12,

13 are adapted to en a e the head 17 see 7 A b b Fig. 5), therebynormally frictionally holding the plate against rotation on the screw 5.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide means cooperable witha hammer or the like, whereby any one of a variety of ordinary nails maybe temporarily held by the hammer for projecting the nail a distance ina support out of the normal reach of the operator, preparatory to thefinal driving of said nail by impinging it with the face. of the hammer;and to operate the invention for said purpose, the head of the nail isforced between the jaws 12, 13, and the head of the hammer, with theshank of the nail disposed to project out between the flanges 14C, 15,at a distance therebetween inwardly from their outer ends as far as theshank will normally go (see Figs. 1 to 4), the free end of the handle 1isthen grasped by the operator and the hammer swung in the properdirection to cause the point of the nail to engage and penetrate thesupport a sufficient distance to hold the nail sufiiciently steady topermit the withdrawal of the hammer therefrom, which is accomplished bysimply drawing the ham mer away from the nail in a direction towards thefree end of the handle 1, thereby causing the head of the nails to slideout from between the jaws 12, 13, and the head ofthe hammer, and theshank to pass out of the free end of the slot 11. The nail maythereafter be driven further forward in the support by engaging it withthe face of the hammer in the usual manner of driving nails.

The plate 6 is rotatably mounted on the screw 5, so that its opposedends may be conveniently relatively reversed, to permit the head of .thehammer to be temporarily freed from the jaws 12, 18, and the outwardlyprojecting flanges 14, 15, when it is desired to employ the hammer onlyfor driving nails in the ordinary manner.

The numeral 19 designates the shank, and the numeral 20, the head of thenail, while 21 designates the support.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent,

is: V

1. In means of the character described, an elongated plate having aconcave-convex indentation formed in its mid-part, a screw projectingthrough said indentation for retatably securing said plate to the handleof a hammer, a projection on said handle spaced from said screwengageable with one end of said plate for normally preventing rotationtation of said plate for reversing it l0ngitudinally, the opposite endof said plate normally disposed. along one side of the head of thehammer for cooperating therewith for binding the head of a nail againstsaid first named head for holding the nail by the hammer preparatory todriving it in a support.

3. In means of the character described, a plate having its midpartpivotally secured to one sideof the handle of a hammer adjacent the headof the latter, whereby said plate may be rotated 360 degrees in a planesubstantially parallel with said handle, opposed ends of said platespring-pressing against said.

' head and said handle when said plate is dis posed in substantiallylongitudinal parallelism with said handle, one end of said plate adaptedfor operatively engaging and holding a nail against said head, and theopposite end thereof adapted to engage means on said handle for normallyholding said plate against rotation.

In testimony of the foregoing being my own, I have hereunto affixed mysignature this 23rd day of February, 1927.

ANDREW LOCHHEAD.

